Many attempts at designing non-lethal ammunition cartridges have been made. One such design for a 12-gauge shotgun shell includes a reduced amount of powder/propellant by a shorter length of powder/propellant that fills the cartridge casing from side-to-side. However, the 12-gauge shotgun shell has a diameter that is so large, that a reduced powder/propellant burns incompletely and inconsistently, leaving unburned powder in the barrel of the shotgun.
Another design for a non-lethal ammunition cartridge achieves non-lethality by a rearward force that activates breach block(s). For example, patent U.S. Pat. No. 8,485,102 includes “a hollow elongated body 50 and a rim 52 for engaging the . . . ejection mechanisms of a firearm” as shown in FIG. 6. That has the effect of causing the piston to push backwards against breach blocks.
Furthermore, patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,098 includes coupling between the moving portion of the cartridge and the cartridge, as shown by the groove 12 and the front-end portion 13 of the sabot 11 of the cartridge 11 in FIG. 3.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,930,977 has a piston that remains in the barrel of the gun.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,226, pressure from detonation of a powder/propellant acts directly against the payload.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an improved non-lethal ammunition.